Insider: Thumbs up to Bostick, down to Crosby

Nov. 10, 2013

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Press-Gazette Media

Packers tight end Brandon Bostick forces his way past Eagles cornerback Roc Carmichael for a 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter Sunday at Lambeau Field. It was his first career NFL touchdown. Kyle Bursaw/Press-Gazette Media

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The Packers dropped to 5-4 and fell out of first place in the NFC North. The last time they lost two straight games at Lambeau Field was in 2008, which also was the last season in which they failed to make the playoffs. Without Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, the landscape has changed dramatically. The Packers went from being one of the best teams in the NFC to a scuffling club just trying to hang on until its starting quarterback returns from a broken collarbone. If the Packers can win one of their next three games — at the New York Giants, home against Minnesota and at Detroit — they will be 6-6 when Rodgers potentially returns in December for a late-season playoff push. But if they take a 5-7 record into December, their postseason hopes will be slim.

Thumbs up

Coming into the game, tight end Brandon Bostick had never caught an NFL pass. But he snared three receptions for 42 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass from Scott Tolzien in the third quarter. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Bostick is showing signs of emerging as the Packers’ go-to tight end of the future. The undrafted Bostick spent all of last season on the practice squad, but the Packers didn’t want to stash him there again because they were afraid another team would claim him. Now we know why. Starting tight end Jermichael Finley may not be back next season, either because of his neck injury or the expiration of his contract, so the Packers have to be looking at Bostick as a potential replacement. Bostick also showed hustle when he ran Eagles safety Brandon Boykin out of bounds after a 76-yard interception return in the second quarter to prevent a touchdown.

Thumbs down

Mason Crosby picked a bad time to revert to his 2012 field goal form. With the Packers’ offense struggling and points at a premium, Crosby couldn’t deliver and made just 2-of-4 field goals. He missed a 53-yard attempt in the first quarter that bounced off the right upright, which put the Eagles in excellent field position and set up their 57-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead. Then in the second quarter, Crosby was wide right on a 42-yard attempt, which sent the Eagles on their way to a field goal drive and 10-0 lead. Crosby had made 19-of-21 field goal attempts coming into the game and had seemingly put last season’s slump, during which he made just 63.6 percent of his attempts, in the rearview mirror.

Numbers

1: Turnovers forced by the Packers in the last three games. It came in the fourth quarter against the Eagles when Tramon Williams forced a Nick Foles fumble on a sack, but the Packers couldn’t convert it into points.

100: Completion percentage by Packers quarterback Seneca Wallace on 5-of-5 passing before he left the game in the first quarter with a groin injury.

10: Packers receivers who caught a pass, led by Jarrett Boykin’s career-best day of eight catches for 112 yards.

7: Consecutive games the Packers had rushed for 100 or more yards this season. The streak ended against Philadelphia when the Packers gained 99 yards on 30 carries.

Turning point

The Packers’ hopes of making a fourth-quarter comeback died when a fourth-down Tolzien pass to Jordy Nelson was ruled an incompletion rather than a touchdown. Replays appeared to show Nelson making a diving catch and getting his hand under the ball in the end zone, but after coach Mike McCarthy threw the challenge flag, officials ruled the ball hit the ground. A touchdown ruling would have pulled the Packers within 27-20 with 9 minutes, 32 seconds remaining. As it was, the call proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the deflated Packers, who never got the ball back. Nelson thought it should have been ruled a touchdown. “It was obviously disappointing,” he said. “I thought the last view gave enough evidence that my hand and arm were underneath (the ball). I guess (the referee) told Mike (McCarthy) that the ball moved.”

Did you notice?

■ The Packers caught a major break midway through the second quarter when officials missed a blatant face mask penalty against Mike Neal. Instead of having a first-and-goal at the Packers’ 9, the Eagles wound up missing a 39-yard field goal.

■Eddie Lacy rushed 14 times for 52 yards before backup James Starks got his first carry midway through the second quarter. Lacy finished with just 21 rushing yards in the second half and 73 for the game on 24 carries (3.0-yard average). Starks ran only four times for 5 yards.

■ Former Packers draft pick Allen Barbre was forced into duty at left tackle for the Eagles when Jason Peters went down with a quad injury.